


On Loyalty and Love

by Fair_Feather_Friend



Category: Chronicles of Tornor - Elizabeth Lynn
Genre: M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:41:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22198765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fair_Feather_Friend/pseuds/Fair_Feather_Friend
Summary: Watchtower: When Tornor Keep is overrun by raiders, Commander Ryke makes a bargain with the usurper, Col Istor,  to save Prince Errel's life. With the aid of the messengers Sorren and  Norres, they escape and travel south where they're introduced to a life that's very different from the one they lived in the North. Ryke finds the differences unsettling and is determined that they will return to the North and overthrow the usurpers, whereas Errel is seduced by the ways of the south and wants to remain.
Relationships: Ryke/Errel
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Serenade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serenade/gifts).



Sometimes Errel wondered if Ryke ever truly saw him, or if he were just a symbol, an obligation, a mere extension of his father and all that had once been.

If ever Ryke realised that not all the scars upon Errel's skin were recent. If ever Ryke realised the Lord who he worshipped had been every bit as cruel as the usurper, Col Itor. Errel had loved his father, as a son must, but he had never liked him much. 

Time after time Ryke had shied away from the truth, refused to face the facts that the Prince he longed to follow was not the man by his side. And yet that same strength of belief, that implacability had allowed them both to weather the usurper's rule and survive long enough to escape.

Ryke, the man who had compromised everything he was to save Errel's life. Who'd betrayed his oaths, his honour, everything that he was to keep Errel alive. Who'd been willing to sacrifice his freedom, his very life, to save Errel.

There was nothing Ryke would not do for him, and so there was nothing Errel would not do for Ryke.

Errel owed him everything.

The man who'd had kind words and hope for him during his imprisonment, who saw a Prince not a fool, and never, not once gave up hope. The man who pulled him close, held him shivering in the dark, and offered comfort where there was no other place of warmth.

Errel loved Ryke as the river loved the rocks. And just as the rocks Ryke was steadfast, unchanging.

Time after time, Ryke stubbornly refused to change, even in the slightest. But that was most unfair. Who could cast off a lifetime of prejudices in one short month?

Sometimes Errel caught glimpses of the man that might be, given time they did not have. But was that any more fair that he wished Ryke to be something other than he was? He could not ask Ryke to betray his nature. Could not ask him to set aside his sword and pick up a plow. 

Ryke, his truest friend, who would have died for him without a second thought, but could not live for him. Ryke who loved the north and all its stark beauty in ways that Errel never could. Who even as they were surrounded by warmth and laughter and hope, dreamed of reclaiming a frozen keep that Errel did not want.

Errel had done as Ryke wished, he'd taken up his bow, and returned to the North for one last time, to fight a war he did not want, to be the Prince he was not, and claim the birthright that was never his.

And they had won. 

The raiders were dead, Col Istor slain by Errel's own arrows. And their allies had proved to be everything that Errel feared. Usurper or ally, they were every bit as cruel as each other. 

In their victory Errel renounced it all, naming his sister ruler in his place. He had not done it for her, for all it was her heart's desire. For Sorren he would have remained in the South and never offered her the one thing that would destroy her lover and drive them both apart. Every tear the stoic Norres had shed was Errel's fault. And each Errel would shed for Ryke would be his penance. 

No, Errel reclaimed Tornor Keep for Ryke. To repay every single sacrifice he had made. To give him everything he wanted and set him free. 

Another Prince, a better Prince, to care for. A mere boy who'd lost everything, and who would need Ryke's loyalty, his strength, his steadfastness to survive until he was old enough to rule. Regent. Ryke would have a title to be proud of. A land to rebuild. Warriors to train. A purpose. A place he loved, he understood, and where he belonged.

In his moments of selfishness Errel wished If only Ryke had warmed to the south. He would never know loyalty like this again. In his moments of selfishness he'd hoped that on releasing Ryke from his promise, the commander might still choose to join him.

If only...


	2. Chapter 2

The bed was cold and empty. Memories of the past days events plagued him. Sleep refused to come.

Errel could concoct some pretext to call for Ryke, but he was not certain he wished to know where the commander was. Ryke was finally where he belonged once more, with those who understood him, and felt of war and the north as he did. Men as intractable as the mountains themselves. 

And this was how Ryke had felt in Vanima, so out of place. A stranger in an outland country. Errel did not want to belong here. He did not want to look at murderers and rapists and pretend.

Errel was sickened by the butchery, by the needless slaughter, the blood that stained his hands. And the aftermath of conquerors claiming what they felt was rightfully theirs. Errel had lived amongst them. They'd been cruel and yet no moreso than Sironen's men. 

There was a knock at the door, Errel went to answer, and standing there, was Ryke. 

"I was so sorry to hear of your sister." Errel said. 

"It is the way of war," Ryke replied. Ryke did not wish to discuss it. Speaking would not change anything. 

Errel closed the door and pulled Ryke into an embrace. Sorren would change the North in ways Errel never could. She'd put an end to such cruelties and see them punished. With Ryke's aid they would make a difference.

Errel held Ryke, who tensed for a time before thawing into Errel's arms. 

So many unspoken words hung between them.

Errel stripped. Scars shining silver in the rushlight. So often they'd done this but this would be the last time. An end. A beginning. 

"Come to bed?" Errel asked and this time Ryke did so, undressing as well.

They found each other beneath the blankets. 

Errel clung to Ryke as if drowning. An outpouring of grief and fear and relief to be alive. 

A farewell. 

They'd slept together so many times, but never like this. Not the desperate desire to chase away the ghosts. Not heated hands and mouths and the most basic of pleasures. 

'I love you,' Errel said with lips against fevered skin. 'I love you,' he breathed with all he was. 

Errel loved Ryke with a ferocity that took his breath away and that was why it could never be. 

I love you. But love itself was poor payment for everything that Ryke had done for him. Errel could not ask more sacrifices of the man who'd already given him everything. 

But what future would they ever have? He could no more ask Ryke to accompany him then he could remain.

They made love until they were both exhausted, and in the morning they would part ways.


	3. Five Futures

Farewell need not be forever, but this one feels as if it will be. Errel will ride south. Ryke will remain in the north to be regent to Cloud Keep's orphaned heir. It's only as they're about to part that Ryke realises he's in love with Errel. Too late.

1.

Ryke pleaded in the only way he could. "I could go with you to Vanima."

"But you are not chearis," Errel replies. Errel releases Ryke from his oath as if Ryke will ever be free.

Ryke is free to choose. Ryke is free to turn away from the orphaned boy who needs him, to the Prince who no longer does. Ryke is free to turn away from all he fought to reclaim. Ryke is free to turn down Sorren's offer, to leave her with one less ally in what will be an arduous battle to prove herself as strong a leader as any man.

What would his life in Vanima be like, he a warrior and it a land of peace? What future could he and Errel have together? There is only one way to find out.

"I will learn." Ryke says.

* * *

2.

Ryke pleaded in the only way he could. "I could go with you to Vanima."

And Errel, knowing he will never know loyalty like this again, replies. "I would like that."

* * *

3.

Events unfold as they always do, neither saying a word on love. Errel returns south to Vanima. Ryke remains in the North, Regent to Ler of Cloud Keep.

**Three years later.**

Errel is weeding the fields of Vanima, preparing for another harvest when two figures appear on the horizon. A large man, and a smaller boy at his side. Errel doesn't dare to hope until they get closer and recognition sets in. Errel leaps to his feet, abandoning his work to race to Ryke. They embrace. Errel invites them to his house. They talk.

The sickness that stole the strength of Cloud Keep, left Ler's lungs weak. They're here, for the season in the hope that the warmth, good food and southern medicines, will bring Ler back to strength. Ryke loves the boy as if he were his own son, and Errel's so relieved they have that.

They return the next year and the year after that and Errel is always there to greet them.

* * *

4.

Events unfold as they always do, neither saying a word on love. Errel returns south to Vanima. Ryke remains in the North, Regent to Ler of Cloud Keep.

**Ten Years Later**

Errel rides North with the other chearis, the first time he has done so since he renounced his title and turned his back on Tornor Keep. They will dance in celebration of Ler's coming of age, and watch him take his title.

Ryke will be there and Errel hopes to see him with a woman at his side, and children underfoot. He wants to see him, if not happy then content. And perhaps, if that's the case, Errel will introduce himself to them, and he and Ryke will reminisce about old times.

Perhaps, Ryke has put his duty to Cloud Keep and Ler before all others, setting aside his own needs to raise the boy. He has no wife and yet all of Cloud Keep are kin to him. There's a few women in the ranks of the guards. A necessity to fill the gaps that war and disease took from them. The north Errel left is not the one he has returned to. It is changing. And all of them, both men and women, have nothing but praise for the former Regent

Ryke can no sooner leave all he has built than Errel can return for good, but they spend a few nights together, and then a few more, and they eventually travel for a time so that Ler can find his own authority without the shadow of Ryke looming over him.

They love happily ever after.


End file.
